


The Guy the Guy Counts On

by Lily_Padd_23



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Established Relationship, Love, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Not really a story, just some thoughts on a page, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 06:49:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17913875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily_Padd_23/pseuds/Lily_Padd_23
Summary: President Bartlet: But what I was going to say…Josh: I’ll toss it all overboard if it means winning, and I think that’s not true, and I’d ask you to support that with evidence... I’m sorry.  I don’t know why I keep doing that.President Bartlet: You’re not willing to toss it overboard to win. You’re willing to toss it overboard to avoid disappointing Leo. You know what the difference is between you and me?  I want to be the guy. You want to be the guy the guy counts on.“Guns Not Butter” Season 4, Episode 12





	The Guy the Guy Counts On

Sam wanted to run for Congress.  
Josh wanted to take Sam’s long-distance calls in the middle of the night to go over strategy.

Sam wanted to write a book.  
Josh wanted be jostled awake to be his sounding board.  
Josh wanted to read his drafts and tell him what he thought.  
Josh wanted to race to the library before it closed in the middle in the middle of a snowstorm to find the old newspaper article in which Sam remembered reading the perfect quote for his chapter on the importance of county politics.  
Josh wanted to stand in the wings of his book tour while Sam posed for pictures.

Sam wanted to run for President.  
Josh wanted to hold his hand while he waved to adoring crowds.  
Josh wanted to sit in the front row and clap the loudest after every speech.  
Josh wanted to give him a standing ovation so that when he took his exit, Sam would see him beaming up and wink at him.

Sam wanted somebody who would listen to him when he was sad.  
Sam wanted someone who would banter with him when his brain felt like it was burning with the precipice of an idea.  
Sam wanted someone who would make love to him.  
Sam wanted someone who would help him find the North Star when latitude and longitude were swept out from under him like an amateur magician who knocked over the entire place setting when he pulled out the tablecloth.  
Josh wanted somebody who would let him hold him when he cried.  
Josh wanted someone who he could sit next to when he was hurting, but who wouldn’t make him talk about it.  
Josh wanted someone who would want to confide in him, whose secrets he could keep.  
Josh wanted someone who would let him in.  
Josh wanted someone who would let him in, but who would not feel the need to knock down Josh’s walls, rather, who would approach them gently, patient enough to slowly chip away at the cracks and love him anyway.  
Josh wanted someone who would know when he was falling apart and reach out a hand so that Josh could squeeze his fingers until they were blue.  
Josh wanted someone who would trust him.  
Josh wanted someone who would trust him enough to tell him anything.  
Josh wanted someone who would trust him enough to know that Josh wouldn’t tell him anything until he was ready.  
Josh wanted someone who would trust him enough to know that, when he was ready, he would tell him anything.

Joanie wanted to be an orchestra conductor.  
Josh wanted to sit in the front row of all her concerts and clap the loudest after every song.  
Josh wanted to give her a standing ovation so that when she took her bow, she’d see him beaming up at her and she would wink at him.

**Author's Note:**

> No one belongs to me, but I love them with all my heart.


End file.
